Waist and chest waders are commonly used worldwide by both fly fishermen, spin fishermen, hunters and the like. Modern waders typically have built-in feet and in many cases, these are built-in stocking feet or neoprene-type feet or boots. Similar equipment is worn by crab fishermen or other mariners in foul weather situations wherein chest-type rain pants with suspenders are used with a jacket over the top. In a fly or spin fishing application, a fishing vest is normally worn over the wader suspenders and also a foul weather jacket may be placed over top. For example, when a fisherman is in Alaska, it is not unusual for the fisherman to have on a pair of undergarments, such as jeans over a fleece, the chest waders and suspenders, a fly fishing vest, a rain proof over jacket, a wading safety belt, and another belt containing either a canister of pepper spray or a pistol for protection against bears and other wildlife.
For both fishing and foul weather gear applications, the wader or rain protection garment may be worn for many hours or even an entire day. Hunting waders are also very popular. Hunting waders come in a variety of camouflage patterns and accommodate the hunter who is wading through bogs or tundra or even lakes (for example—duck hunters). Another name for these systems is “Waders With Bibs.” One is referred to any search engine of the internet where one can enter the search term “waders” and see the wide variety that is available. Fishing wader manufacturers include Cabela's®, Orvis®, Simms®, Redbull®, Hodgman® and many others. Waders can either be simple waders or rain protection suits. Pants or chest high waders can be rubber or of modern high technical fabrics that breathe, such as Gore-tex®.
Taking the waders and all of this equipment off to urinate is a real hassle. Not only is it inconvenient, but in a driving rain storm, one can get very wet during the process. For an Alaska fly fisherman, taking off and laying down your fly fishing vest and jacket often results in it being laid along the muddy banks of a river or worse. Furthermore, taking off all of the gear could temporarily leave a fisherman or hunter without access to a firearm or bear spray if the need to defend themselves from wildlife occurred at that same moment. Even if this unfortunate situation never happens, it is still quite disconcerting to the fisherman or hunter every time they need to remove their gear and put themselves in greater harm.
Dehydration is another important issue which can happen to a fly fisherman or hunter. With the advent of modern breathable waders, it is now possible to hike for many miles wearing your waders. In July and August of 2012, the inventors of this patent application extensively fished Southeast Alaska's rivers and streams. The inventors found there is a tendency to drink very little water because it is so much of a hassle to remove all of the gear and the waders to urinate. Leg cramps and other symptoms due to dehydration became apparent on many occasions. This is simply an unhealthy situation. What is needed is to allow a fisherman or hunter wearing a wader to drink as much as they would like and still be able to relieve themselves in a quick and efficient manner.
Many have already attempted to address such issues and concerns, yet were either unsuccessful or unable to bring their inventions to market. Orvis's® U.S. Pat. No. 7,770,235 describes a typical modern fishing wader consisting of a lightweight nylon-faced laminate material utilizing tape or sonic welds to achieve a durable, lightweight and comfortable wader. The '235 patent has no provision to facilitate urination. However, a number of rubber clothing or wader patents do disclose features for urination. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 291,854 to Platt shows a strapped opening in the front of the wader with folds to prevent water entry. This is, of course, a very crude and cumbersome approach compared to the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,385,816 illustrates a waterproof sealing closure zipper, which again, is very difficult and cumbersome to use and also, is not completely waterproof during long-term immersion, for example, in a river or a lake.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,570,019 illustrates a protrusion with a drawstring to facilitate urination. This has a number of obvious disadvantages. Not only is it aesthetically unacceptable, it would also tend to be very messy.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,746,113 illustrates yet another type of waterproof zipper, which again, is not completely waterproof during long-term immersion.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,853,758 shows a method of rolling the fabric tightly and then clamping it down to attempt a waterproof seal. This also has a lacing structure over it. Of course, all of this would be very cumbersome and probably no more efficient than simply removing the garment.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,274,159 illustrates a type of tube with a roll-up and a waterproof zipper. It is aesthetically unacceptable, messy and also cumbersome.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,601,085 illustrates a water resistant slide fastener which appears very cumbersome and difficult to use in practice.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,888,859 also illustrates a water tight slide fastener which appears to be not completely waterproof during long-term immersion.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,210,879 illustrates waders equipped with an opening and closing means to allow fisherman to urinate without having to draw the garment down. However, this opening is in the form of a tubular member, which must be coiled and then closed over with Velcro® to prevent ingress of water. Again, this is aesthetically not pleasing, messy and it is also dubious whether this would truly form a water tight seal.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,444,898 illustrates another type of water resistant closure, involving a slide fastening assembly and a pair of stringer tapes integrated with waterproof fabric. In the field, this would be difficult to use and very difficult to close back up again.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,105,214 illustrates a water resistant slide fastener with gripper elements positioned along the edges. Again, this looks like it would be very difficult to use and is of dubious quality during long-term immersion.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,223,349 illustrates a closure device for a slit opening of an aquatic sports suit. This is a type of zipper closure that may or may not be waterproof during total immersion. In any event, it would be difficult to use in the field and impractical for a chest wader. Most waders come up to well above the waist area. The drawing shown in FIG. 5 of the '349 patent is really not practical. In other words, one is not going to be able to open up the zipper at the top of the garment analogous to a pair of Levis. This is because the wader typically goes up onto the chest where there may be one or more pockets for holding fly fishing boxes and the like. This is an essential problem with all of the zipper approaches in that there is really no way to open them in the traditional way at the top. This is because the garment goes a very long way above the groin area. Zipping the entire garment, from the chest all the way down to the groin then involves pockets, a safety belt and the suspenders which rapidly becomes very impractical.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,317,893 is a good illustration of a prior art wader with a safety belt 24 and suspenders 14. This particular invention does not have provision for urination, but does illustrate the difficulty of removing the wader and pulling it down. Wader safety belt 24 is essential because if the person wearing the wader were to slip in a river or a lake, the wader legs would very quickly fill with water which could immediately add a lot of weight to the system and be life-threatening. Accordingly, one or more wader belts 24 or 18 are worn to prevent such water ingress into the system. Even if the water was not life-threatening, it would certainly wet the undergarments and make the wearer very wet and miserable for the remainder of the day.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,363,531 and Pat. No. 6,438,757 illustrate types of waterproof zippers. The '757 patent shows a zipper that is designed with a flap enclosure at the top so that it would not have to be zipped all the way up the chest area. However, the next problem it ensues is one ends up with a very narrow slit, in terms of enough of an opening, to be able to conveniently urinate.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,389,598 illustrates a sealably accessible wader system. This particular invention attempts to create a wader material that forms an opening. A removably discrete and separate closure element is detachable from the wader. This creates problems in that the closure element must be placed on the ground during urination or held with one of the user's hands. This can become awkward and difficult to operate when in use. If the closure element is placed down on the ground it can become soiled and then later interfere with the watertight seal when reattached. There is no provision to attach the closure element to the wader where it does not interfere with the urination process. Furthermore, this particular invention does not disclose or teach how such a structure will be manufactured as the wader material is not a suitable material to be used to form a water tight hatch. Wader material is substantially flexible, malleable and flowing and does not hold its shape because it is not substantially rigid. The disclosure of the patent fails to enable one skilled in the art to actually practice the invention because its structures cannot be manufactured nor do the structures work in reality.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide a convenient access hatch in the wader or equivalent garment, which can be easily flipped open allowing the wearer to urinate without removing any of the other garments, belts or accessories. None of the prior art illustrates a sealed enclosure area with a hinged lid, which can be quickly opened. The present invention provides a hinged access cover which can be round, oval or of many shapes that when shut provides a high integrity waterproof seal. It is provided with a quick release snap so that it can be opened quite readily. The opening is sufficiently large to conveniently access undergarments and to be able to urinate, and the entire system does not feature tubes or tunnels, which could become messy during urination. In addition, the access cover is provided with a convenient attachment mechanism so that it can be put up out of the way during the process. It is readily closed by snapping it back into place and once again forming a waterproof seal for the wader or garment. The present invention fulfills the needs discussed above and provides other related advantages.